What
is the world coming to. We are officially a consumer service economy.
Indoor Valet parking is only $39.95 a day at the Houston airport.
While parking across the street from my work in downtown Austin is now
$8 per day. It was only $2 a day 3 years ago.
I found out that I need to switch over away from Microsoft Office 10
or they will expands there monopoly on my desktop even further, guess
it's time to start looking at Star Office seriously. Mac OS X
is finally out, only 3 years after it was purchased, while the BeOS
would have been ready to ship within months of being acquired.

September 3

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Nothing
like sitting in Dairy Queen for 4 hours to make your realize how much
money fast food makes. How entertaining to watch the locals go
to the gas station mini-mart to buy groceries or chat over the latest
air cushion seat for 18-wheeler trucks. The music is just to die
for, listening to a one hour track of pop classics loop over and over
again. Although the unlimited refills while in the dining area
was impressive, that's the best 99¢ I've spent in a long time.
I was able to enjoy this scenery after my car decided it needed another
cash infusion to keep running. The damage was a new timing belt, tension
pulley, oil change,and power steering fluids.
I blame it all on my sister Paige who willed my car not to work as she
didn't want to go to church.

September 4

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This
is my all time favorite game. Do you know what game it is? If you do
I would be surprised as this game has been out of print for over 30
years. Its called Twixt.
I used to spend hours playing this game with my roommates and cousins
on family vacations. The other game I enjoy playing is called
Space Lines, it is a 3D version of connection four that is very very
challenging.
Then of course if checkers, there's nothing like having an all night
checkers competition at a party, wandering from room to room and checking
to see who's the current holder of the soft chair.

September 5

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This
is the hole in the ozone layer. It's supposedly 3 times the size
of the United States this year, so I understand this heat wave and drought
a little more that we are going through here in texas. There's
nothing like a long dinner with friends to make you relax and wish you
only had to work on the weekend and could enjoy the week doing hobbies
or on adventures. We finally closed on a building at work, so 4 long
moths of work finally paid off. Now if I could only figure out
how to get a larger cut of the broker's fees.

September 6

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You
can only upgrade something so far before it's not worth the effort.
I spent most the day trying to get some ASP pages to work and then any
spare time trying to help out closing the sale of a building. Who would
have thought that it would be so hard to purchase a building for $2million
dollars less that it is worth. Chinese food seems to be so expensive
these days, even the buffets are like $10 a person. Where are the days
of 3 rice paper rolls for $2

September 7

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I
used to draw lots of celtic artwork. I can't seem to find much time
these days though to keep the drawings coming out on paper, although
I have been able to get a lot more digital artwork done lately.

September 8

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Definition
of goth:
A style of rock music characterized by an intense or droning blend of
guitar, bass, and drums, often with mystical or apocalyptic lyrics.
Also, a performer or follower of this music or the youth subculture
which surrounds it, favoring a white-faced appearance with heavy black
make-up and predominantly black clothing.
A back-formation of Gothic; the style of dress and some elements of
the lyrics evoke the style of gothic fantasy.

September 9

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In all the
time that I have known her
I have never truly looked into her eyes

Perhaps I was
blinded by the friendship
That comforted me during times of despair
Or perhaps it was simply the soothing warmth
Of the smile she shared when she came near

I just don't
know

When I finally
opened my eyes
I saw something truly beautiful in hers
Something even more warm and comforting
Than I ever felt from her before
I found a place where I could truly be at peace again
If she would open her eyes as well

September 10

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Where sky
greets fire
And time clings to the mind
Self illusions flickering images
Shadows of pantomime
Gestures of a forgotten age
Creation from wisdom failed
Reflections draw near
Grasping at the formless...
Dreams speak jibberish
Thoughts stutter and slur
Mind rambles on aimlessly...
Drifting by desire
Depth of binding nightmare
Lifted from time and space
A fragile attempt
Night circles and falls inside
Burning in the eyes
Placidity encloses
Into final form...
Dreams speak jibberish
Thoughts stutter and slur
Mind rambles on aimlessly

Here's
the one machine to start off your day with. A computer & a
coffee machine in one unit. Look for these to start appearing in police
patrol cars. Now if I could only get a doughnut machine my life
would be set. I've been stuck working on the same ASP page for
like 4 days now, ohh the joys of not having a single access provider.
Hell = programming = Microsoft = Back Pains

September 12

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The
ASP page crisis was finally fixed, it only took 5 days and help from
a friendly ASP programmer Scott Swain. Not many people will work
for charity, praise, and goodwill these days. Check out his creative
site at http://www.oceanwebs.com Praise to my ISP, PrismNet,
for not setting up the DSN correctly and the access to the database
files, but getting the problem solved in the end.

We
got our first rainfall in 60+ days here. We are turning into the desert
lands of Arizona at this rate.

September 13

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Well
now is the time to attack London and most countries within Europe. A
fuel shortage would definitely aid in gaining air superiority and the
road blockades would prevent rapid deployments of tanks and troops within
their zones. If it could last another week most essential services
would be at a standstill and generators would have to run off of backup
reserve capacity. Even companies like catapillar only have a backup
diesel tank for 2 day of business. It would also be easy to manipulate
oil contracts on the market easier& make large profits by selling
off excess capacity.

September 14

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British
Army on Standby As Fuel Crisis Deepens
`There is a real danger now for the national health service and other
essential services,'' he said. ``Lives are at risk if these people cannot
get to work. "The Ministry of Defense said 80 trucks and 160 men
were being deployed to military bases, from where they would be able
deliver army oil reserves to public services as a last resort. Retailer
J Sainsbury Plc has written to the government to warn food shortages
loomed within days. Television beamed pictures of empty bread shelves
and store managers urging customers to refrain from panic buying.

This
is a short clip from the article which I found interesting. If
the army oil reserves are depleated and cannot be replenished quickly
then this makes the countries armed forces that much weaker and open
to attack from other countries. Imagine what could happen if the US
ever decides to open up the large reserve help here in North America.
This could easily lead to a chain reaction or situation where people
would need their 2 year supply of food.

How
To Transport Two 150 Pound Sulcata
By Suzy Rottyfan@Earthlink.net
1. Rent a large van.
2. Cover floor with carpet.
3. Cover carpet with straw.
4. Get a blanket and a wheelbarrow
5. Load tort in wheelbarrow.
6. Load tort in van, close door.
7. Open door and convince tort he can not ride up front.
8. Close van. Start van.
9. Shut off van. Open door.
10. Remove tort from side door well.
11. Fill side door well with plywood.
12. Rearrange torts, again. Close door.
13. Get back in truck, and leave.
14. Listen to torts scratch at the walls trying to find
a place they like.
15. Compute in head price for new van and story for rental yard.
16. Get on the freeway for a 4 hour drive.
17. At last , torts find corners they like and sleep.
18. Mentally rearrange existing pen plans to accommodate
very determined torts.
19. Compute cost of new landscaping that will definitely not
survive these guys.
20. Home sweet home...leave torts in van till morning. safe
and sound and sleeping.
21. Unload torts.. Set up house and pen modifications.
22. Spend rest of the day cleaning the van!

September 17

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Tortoise
bano only $5.99

September 18

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Sulcata
Tortoise, this is the cute little turtle I got. He's supposed to get
pretty big though, so we'll see how long it takes him to grow into his
current tank.

September 19

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A
side view of my turtle isn't he cute.

September 20

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This
is a picture I found that although it isn't my turtle lemon, it shows
a good estimate of how big he is.

September 21

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Ah
the perfect king bed. Now all I need is a nice princess to share it
with.

September 22

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This
is the pet I want one day. A cotton-top monkey. Now I just need
to save up the $3000 to buy him

September 23

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I
was amused with my smurf fetish & them I come across more &
more stuff about in in relations to Dubai. It must be from all
the european schooling influence in the society there.

DAILY
SMURFS SHOW AT MAMZAR PARK DURING DSF

The
Smurf Children's Theatrical Troupe of Britain delighted the young and
the old with four daily shows at the Mamzar Park from March 3 to 24
as part of Dubai Municipality's events for Dubai Shopping Festival 2000.

The
show, the first of its kind in the Middle East, was a top entertainer,
with stellar performances by five child members and four amazing dancers.
The highlight of the show was the song performed by the five child artists,
which was highly appealing to children of all age groups. Four dancers
accompanying the
troupe also put up a scintillating display of dances to the tune
of lilting music.

There
were four shows every day at Mamzar Park's open-air theatre, which is
equipped with state-of-the-art audio-visual equipment and was appropriately
decorated for the occasion. The shows revolved around the significance
of collective work and cooperation as well as Smurf's love for good
deeds and their fight against forces of evil which are represented by
Sharshabil.

September 24

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Marhaba
one of the few words I remember means welcome in arabic.

September 25

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This
picture sums up how I feel at work sometimes. Overwhelmed but happy
to be learning new things all the time.

September 26

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Dubai,
United Arab Emirates is only 16 hours away by flight & $3,624.73
for a roundtrip ticket.
Total miles: 8300 mi
Total flight time:16hr 41mn (20hr 35mn with connections)
Now all I need is to find a rich sponsor to be my host & pay for
my trip to visit home again.

September 27

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I
glance back & suddenly a week has passed by me. It's amazing that
the will of the people can be so easily overruled by it's leaders. How
many times has the American public decried an action of our government
on deaf ears also. I see it a little hypocritical of the U.S. government
to act as the judge in the political elections of another sovereign
government.

September 28

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Who
is BT? BT is Brian Wayne Transeau.

Well,
first off, Hooverphonic opened with a one-hour set. I've heard
their music before and never been a huge fan, but on stage it's definitely
much less electronic and much more live-rock-ish. I was impressed.
The singer had an accent that made the music that much more enjoyable,
and she was cute.

After
them, BT's stuff took an hour to set up, and then everyone came on stage.
A guitarist/electric cello player, a tambourine player/female vocalist,
a bass player/second female vocalist, a drummer, a black male vocalist,
and BT himself.

No
comparison whatsoever! I was front and right for this concert and it
was the best I have ever seen. He rocked that place last night. The
band did an AWESOME job and BT put off so much energy it was insane.
The main reason I'm writing this is because I cant talk from screaming
the entire night. Thanks to BT for the best time me I have had in a
long time.

September 29

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My
entertainment for the evening was the movie Remember the Titans. I give
it a 4 out of 10. The plotline of the movie was very predictable.
There were no big climatic moments that hadn't already been seen from
the promotions they ran for the movie.

September 30

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Pecan
Street festival anyone. Atlas I didn't feel like strolling in the sun
today. Today was a time to attempt to relax a little and enjoy
the weekend. Seems that I never seem to get enough of that these days.